1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector that electrically connects a flat conductor and a circuit board.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, connectors that are mounted on a circuit board and electrically connect Flexible printed circuits (FPC), an Flexible flat cable (FFC), or the like (referred to as “flat conductor” in this specification and the claims) and the circuit board, have been used as connectors used in electronic devices. These connectors can connect a unit in a device such as a computer or a liquid crystal display and a circuit board in various forms, and are therefore mounted in many electronic devices.
Examples of such connectors include those including locking members having engaging portions that engage with recessed portions provided in side edges of a flat conductor. By engaging the engaging portions with the recessed portions of the flat conductor, with the flat conductor and terminals electrically connected, the flat conductor is fixed to the connector. When pulling out the flat conductor from this connector, by pressing operating portions of the locking members in advance, the engaging portions are disengaged from the recessed portions, and by pulling the flat conductor from the connector in that state, the flat conductor can be easily pulled out from the connector (for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2012-59535).
The engaging portions of the locking members described above are connected to the operating portions, and are displaced in the same direction as the pressing direction of the operating portions. Therefore, in order to disengage the engaging portions from the recessed portions of the flat conductor, it is necessary to press the operating portions to largely displace the engaging portions away from the flat conductor. Therefore, when inserting the flat conductor into the connector perpendicularly to the plate surface of the circuit board, a large space for displacing the operating portions is necessary around the connector.
The present invention has been made on the background of the above-described conventional art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a connector such that even when there is no large space around the connector, the operation of disengaging locking members from a flat conductor can be easily performed.